Danzo: Man, This Is Frustrating

The Root's underground base was as cold and gloomy as ever. A few oil lamps cast wavering shadows on the stone walls.

Danzo sat behind the long table, half his face hidden beneath bandages. His exposed eye was fixed on the letter spread across the table.

The letter had just been removed from the leg of a Root ninja hawk, and the ink was still wet.

"Sasuke Uchiha has left Konoha with Jiraiya. Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno are traveling with them. Once they left the village, intelligence coverage dropped to zero. All the rabbits in the village have disappeared."

Danzo flipped the letter over and placed it facedown on the table. He tapped the edge twice with his fingers, then looked up.

"Come in."

The sound of a cane striking the floor came from beyond the stone door. Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura entered one after the other.

Koharu wore a dark blue robe, her face expressionless.

Homura pushed up his glasses and sat across from Danzo.

"Something to discuss?" Homura asked first.

"Sasuke's gone. The rabbits are gone, too." Danzo pushed the letter toward them.

Koharu picked it up and glanced over it, then handed it to Homura.

"Isn't that a good thing? Don't you complain about there being too many rabbits all the time?"

Danzo clenched his fists. "I've been watched by a bunch of rabbits while I eat, drink, and do my business in my own home. They even follow me to the bathroom. Now they've finally cleared out, so of course I'm letting you know."

"Okay, okay." Homura put the letter on the table and folded his hands in his lap.

"That boy Sasuke isn't an outsider. He's one of us. There's no harm in keeping an eye on him, is there? Haven't you kept tabs on other people yourself?"

"Homura's right." Koharu picked up the thread, her tone much harsher than his.

"It's only been a year since the Uchiha Clan Massacre. You know perfectly well how many Sharingan you took from the Police Force."

"Sasuke Uchiha only put some summoning beasts in the village. Is that really enough to make you this angry?"

Danzo shot to his feet. It was clear he was genuinely furious.

"Only some?!"

Koharu watched him, her expression unchanged.

Homura sighed, took off his glasses, wiped them twice with his sleeve, and put them back on.

"Koharu, don't say any more."

"Danzo, you should calm down, too. As annoying as the rabbits are, Konoha's intelligence defenses have definitely improved over the past year.

"Ever since the rabbits appeared, any stranger who comes near is spotted right away."

Koharu gave a derisive snort. "Several batches of spies sent by Kumogakure have already been taken out. That's a real accomplishment."

"Before you complain, Danzo, you should think about how many fewer people have died in the village this past year."

Danzo struck the floor with his cane, still unwilling to give in, then slowly sat back down.

Koharu rose to her feet. She walked to the stone door, stopped, and turned her head toward Danzo. "The rabbits have done more good than harm. There's nothing to debate."

"You should settle down, too. You've gotten plenty of benefits. Stop acting like you've been wronged."

Homura stood as well. As he passed Danzo, he patted him on the shoulder.

"You and Sarutobi both bear responsibility for what happened to the Uchiha."

"Now that Sasuke's gone, you can have some peace for a while. Stop picking fights with a child."

The stone door closed, its sound echoing through the underground passage. The footsteps in the hallway gradually faded away.

The oil lamp flames flickered twice, stretching the shadows along the edge of the long table.

Alone behind the table, Danzo closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

Sasuke was gone. The rabbits were gone. At last, he'd get a couple of days of peace.

He raised a hand and rubbed the corner of his eye, sore from the tight bandages.

"Heh heh..."

A low, raspy laugh suddenly drifted down from above.

Danzo's eyes snapped open. He gripped his cane in his right hand and held it up in front of him.

The surface of a protruding rock in the wall above the table rippled like water.

A pale figure slowly seeped out of the rock.

Orochimaru appeared in front of Danzo.

The surprise in Danzo's exposed eye lasted only an instant before turning to coldness.

"Koharu and the others weren't wrong. The moment the rabbits leave, all kinds of snakes and vermin can crawl into Konoha."

"That's a cruel thing to say, Lord Danzo." Orochimaru drew his tongue back into his mouth and curled his lips into a smile.

"We're old friends, after all. Root and my lab used to work together quite happily."

He walked to the table, picked up the letter Koharu had left facedown, and glanced over its contents. Then he held it to the oil lamp and set it on fire.

The paper curled and blackened in the flames, crumbling into a small pile of ash on the tabletop.

"Sasuke-kun isn't in the village anymore," Orochimaru said.

"I know." Danzo stared at him. "Were you eavesdropping just now?"

"'Eavesdropping' makes it sound so unpleasant. I just happened to be nearby and saw the two esteemed advisors leave."

Orochimaru tucked his hands into his sleeves, pulled up a chair across from Danzo, and sat down. He leaned back and crossed one leg over the other.

"I came to discuss a partnership."

"A partnership?" Danzo leaned back in his chair. His exposed eye gave nothing away.

"I'm planning an attack on Konoha."

Danzo's hand, resting on the table, clenched into a fist.

"Have your own forbidden jutsu addled your brain?" Danzo's voice turned vicious. "You think I'd help you destroy Konoha?"

Orochimaru laughed, his voice raspy and sticky.

"Lord Danzo, you're so impatient."

He leaned forward, bracing his hands on his knees, and let his tongue circle his lips again.

"There are only two things I really want. First, to kill Hiruzen Sarutobi. Second, to study Sasuke Uchiha."

Danzo's clenched fist loosened. His fingertips tapped the tabletop twice.

Orochimaru watched him quietly, waiting for him to speak.

"You want to kill Hiruzen and capture the last survivor of the Uchiha Clan..." Danzo said slowly. "What do you need me to do?"

Orochimaru traced a circle on the table with his finger, then tapped a point inside it.

"Lord Danzo, have you started pretending not to understand? You know what you need to do."

"And I can help you get Teacher Sarutobi out of that seat. What you do to consolidate your power over Konoha afterward is up to you. I have no interest in power."

Danzo didn't respond. He could only believe half of what Orochimaru said.

Who knew what the madman would do once the plan was underway?

But if the Hokage's seat became vacant, if Hiruzen died on the battlefield, and Root appeared at the critical moment as Konoha's savior...

"I need time to think." Danzo planted his cane on the floor and stood up.

"Of course." Orochimaru's body began melting like a candle, his lower half already sinking into the rock beneath him.

"But don't take too long. My patience has its limits, too."

Orochimaru disappeared into the rock.

Danzo stared at the spot for a long time, then brushed the ashes from the table onto the floor.

By the lakeside on the outskirts of Konoha, near the woods on the village's eastern edge.

Yakumo Kurama crouched by the lake, gently trailing her fingers across the water.

She wore a simple, plain-colored kimono, her hair loosely tied behind her head with a ribbon.

Her face was somewhat pale, the kind of pallor that came from years spent without sunlight.

She drew back her fingers. Her reflection broke apart into ripples across the water.

She watched the scattered flecks of light, letting her mind drift.

Then an animal blocked her view.

A rabbit.

Its fur was pure white, and its ruby-red eyes gazed quietly at her.

The rabbit shook its head. Its left ear flopped onto its forehead with a smack, while its right ear stayed upright.

Yakumo blinked, and the rabbit blinked too.

"You're..." Yakumo murmured. She reached out to touch it, but her fingers stopped in midair before she pulled them back.

She was afraid it would run away if she touched it.

It was the same at school. Whenever she tried to talk to someone, they would make an excuse and turn away.

The rabbit tilted its head, then hopped closer and pushed its head right into her palm.

Its fur was soft—softer than anything Yakumo had ever touched.

The warm bundle tickled against her palm, and her fingers curled around it of their own accord, stroking from the rabbit's head all the way down its back.

The rabbit raised its head, closed its eyes, and let out the faintest purr.

"You little rabbit... you're so cute."

Yakumo picked it up and settled it on her lap, using her sleeve to wipe a bit of mud off its paws.

She had never had a pet before, but now she thought that if she could hold this rabbit every day, maybe she would get better sooner.

She lowered her head and leaned close to the rabbit's ear.

"Come home with me."

The rabbit opened its red eyes and looked at her, then opened its mouth.

"Sure~"

Yakumo's eyes went wide. "Huh?!"